If you’re looking to do a solargraphy project by leaving a pinhole camera in a place for months, a bridge above a busy freeway is not a smart location choice.
Someone doing this caused a bomb scare in Virginia back in 2013, and it looks like the exact same thing caused a ridiculously huge commotion in Atlanta, Georgia this morning. A busy freeway was shut down in both directions, and a bomb squad was called out to detonate the device.
Local news station WSB-TV reports that the ‘tube shaped object” was duct taped to the side of the bridge overlooking the interstate. A worker who spotted the device said there was a note on it that said something like: “Slow motion video. Do not move until spring.”
Someone else who walked past the device reports that it was simply a coke can that had been converted into a long exposure camera. The attached note said that it was for an art project — presumably a solargraph.
Unfortunately, law enforcement won’t take the chance with a suspicious device report. The interstate was completely shut down for hours, the resulting traffic jam stretched for miles.
Police, firefighters, and a bomb squad were quickly called to the scene.
Here’s a short news clip showing the camera getting blown to bits:
It’s crazy how much commotion a single misplaced pinhole camera can cause.
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.